Marketing Strategies and Economic Developments - Essay Example

1. Although an organisation is more directly affected by microeconomic factors, it cannot just ignore the macroeconomic environment. After all, both the microeconomic environment and the organisation rest upon the macroeconomic environment. Because of this, a change in the macroeconomic environment is likely to bring a change within the microeconomic environment, which directly affects an organisation. Economic developments, for example, affect the “structure of the competition in the market, the cost and availability of money for marketing investment in stock and new products and the economic conditions affecting a customer’s propensity to buy.” One excellent example is the recent global economic crisis slowing down the growth of economies around the world. As a result, companies began laying off employees resulting to a decreased consumer spending across the globe. On the other hand, social factors are of great interest to a marketer as it has a “direct effect on their understanding of customers and what drives them.” For example, the emphasis given in physical fitness today has stimulated the growth in sales of products labeled as “healthy.” As illustrated in the first case study, the buying preference of consumers when it comes to food depends on the trend in health. People still want quick preparation but without having to worry about health concerns, thus the popularity of McCain’s and Birds Eye’s products. Products that are marketed as “healthy, fresh and natural” instantly appeal to the growing number of health-conscious consumers. 2. First stage in this process is problem recognition which, on the consumer’s end, could be as clear as running out of grocery items or as vague as appeasing sudden personal whims. In some instances, the consumer may already be familiar with the problem but is unaware that he could be affected by such. The second stage – the information search – begins when the consumer looks for information on products/services that may solve the problem previously identified. As soon as the consumer locks its focus on a shortlist of solutions (i.e. products/services) available, he begins evaluating the information by weighing the key benefits offered by existing brands while getting ready for the next step, which is the decision stage. At this point, the consumer has already made a final choice after considering the options available. The final stage is post-purchase evaluation where the consumer tries to assess whether his choice is the best one. This process, although very intuitive, presents an endless task to the marketer from beginning to end. In cases where the problem is vague, a marketer may take advantage by emphasising it via advertising and presenting the solution. He may even make up a problem for the consumer to think about. A little exaggeration or humour might help to catch a prospective customer’s attention and to make the product easy to remember. In short, marketers try to make the product as appealing as possible. The second stage is rather easier to influence, given today’s abundance of media through which we could spread information, be it on print, broadcast or electronic. Marketers try to make information available anywhere for easy access, while keeping it detailed to help a consumer decide (e.g. brochures, flyers, and web pages). On the information evaluation stage, a consumer may be influenced, for example, by stressing the product’s benefits. An ad for low fat milk, for instance, could make use of today’s obsession for calorie counting and emphasis on healthy lifestyle. A marketer’s goal after a decision has been made is to keep that decision final which is accomplished by making the procurement of the product convenient, hence the birth of vending machines. Still, at the end of the day, customer satisfaction is the major player in the post-purchase evaluation, the stage where the consumer to patronise the product or not. This attempt to influence by the marketers is evident in the store Tabooboo, which sells sex toys for women in a fashionable manner. The name itself incites curiosity, influencing the very first stage of the process, while its pink theme redefines the line of product the company is selling. The store also took advantage of the second stage by launching the company’s web page. Products were sold in bars, clubs and hotels through vending machines, making it convenient for female customers. What was once a taboo became a fashionable accessory, thanks to its effective marketing strategy. 3. At the core of every marketing strategy lies the target benefitting from segmentation: the customer. With this strategy, a customer finds a sense of belongingness to a product targeted for the segment where he belongs. He may feel that the supplier is more involved in catering to his needs, thus the supplier earns the segment’s loyalty. The marketing mix also benefits from segmentation. As the supplier begins to understand its targets better, a better product promotion can be formulated, enabling the supplier to reach out closer to potential customers. Better understanding also allows the organisation to make a retrospective evaluation of their performance and compare it to that of their competitors, thus increasing its competitive edge. However, a certain criteria must be followed in segmentation; it is not as easy as wantonly dividing the consumers into groups. First, a segment must possess distinctiveness – characteristics unique to that segment, enough to set it apart from other consumers. Take this criterion, however, to the extreme and the segment may lose tangibility. One should ask: is the group special enough to make a separate segment but too large to be ignored? Of course, the product also needs to be accessible to targeted segments. That is, the organisation’s resources should be enough to deliver the products to the targeted segment, as well as communicate with them for continued product support and promotion. And lastly, defendability must be taken into consideration. Brassington and Pettitt emphasize the importance of considering “whether an organisation can develop a sufficiently strong differential advantage to defend its presence [a] segment against competitive incursions.” One segment in which organisations have not given much attention to is the gay community. This community possesses all criteria necessary for segmentation yet very few organisations have reached out more aggressively to gays and as a result, they have missed the immense benefits of segmentation. The statistics presented in the third case study clearly shows that by ignoring the criteria for segmentation on gays, organisations are missing out in reaping immense profits from the gay community. Read More